Health 03 (Apr 09 - Feb 10)

[winston]

Here's a strong contender for worst drug side effect EVER…

Toxic epidermal necrolysis.

This condition causes the loss of the top layer of skin. ALL the skin. The pain is so excruciating that morphine is required. Sleep is nearly impossible at the outset. The patient is also extremely vulnerable to infection, which often results in death.

The only good news is that the skin heals itself. But that takes at least a month – a very LONG month.

So what kind of powerful drug might cause such an unbelievably harsh reaction?

Acetaminophen. That's right –Tylenol, to name just the most famous of the many brands.

According to ABC News, toxic epidermal necrolysis is usually caused by prolonged use of acetaminophen, which sets off a haywire reaction in the inflammatory system. Other drugs that may also prompt this reaction include ibuprofen, anti-seizure drugs, and some antibiotics.

Bottom line: Pay attention to those drug label instructions that warn against extended use.

Source: HSI

[millionairemind]

Here's a strong contender for worst drug side effect EVER…

Toxic epidermal necrolysis.

According to ABC News, toxic epidermal necrolysis is usually caused by prolonged use of acetaminophen, which sets off a haywire reaction in the inflammatory system. Other drugs that may also prompt this reaction include ibuprofen, anti-seizure drugs, and some antibiotics.

Source: HSI

Ibuprofen is given to children with persistent high fever above 38.5degC, but not more than once every 6hrs...

I give my son Ibuprofen when he has high fevers..

[winston]

Study links sugary soft drinks to pancreas cancer

* Regular soda drinkers had 87 percent higher risk
* Theory is that sugar fuels tumors

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - People who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer, an unusual but deadly cancer, researchers reported on Monday.

People who drank mostly fruit juice instead of sodas did not have the same risk, the study of 60,000 people in Singapore found.

Sugar may be to blame but people who drink sweetened sodas regularly often have other poor health habits, said Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota, who led the study.

"The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth," Pereira said in a statement.

Insulin, which helps the body metabolize sugar, is made in the pancreas.

Writing in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Pereira and colleagues said they followed 60,524 men and women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study for 14 years.

Over that time, 140 of the volunteers developed pancreatic cancer. Those who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87 percent higher risk of being among those who got pancreatic cancer.

Pereira said he believed the findings would apply elsewhere.

"Singapore is a wealthy country with excellent healthcare.

Favorite pastimes are eating and shopping, so the findings should apply to other western countries," he said.

But Susan Mayne of the Yale Cancer Center at Yale University in Connecticut was cautious.

"Although this study found a risk, the finding was based on a relatively small number of cases and it remains unclear whether it is a causal association or not," said Mayne, who serves on the board of the journal, which is published by the American Association for Cancer Research.

"Soft drink consumption in Singapore was associated with several other adverse health behaviors such as smoking and red meat intake, which we can't accurately control for." Other studies have linked pancreatic cancer to red meat, especially burned or charred meat.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with 230,000 cases globally. In the United States, 37,680 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in a year and 34,290 die of it.

The American Cancer Society says the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients is about 5 percent.

Some researchers believe high sugar intake may fuel some forms of cancer, although the evidence has been contradictory.

Tumor cells use more glucose than other cells.

One 12-ounce (355 ml) can of non-diet soda contains about 130 calories, almost all of them from sugar.


Source: Reuters

[winston]

Even third-hand smoke carries carcinogens: study

Credit: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Old tobacco smoke does more than simply make a room smell stale -- it can leave cancer-causing toxins behind, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

They found cancer-causing agents called tobacco-specific nitrosamines stick to a variety of surfaces, where they can get into dust or be picked up on the fingers. Children and infants are the most likely to pick them up, the team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California reported.

"These findings raise concerns about exposures to the tobacco smoke residue that has been recently dubbed 'third-hand smoke'," the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, available here .

They suggested a good clean-up could help remove these potentially harmful chemicals and said their findings suggest other airborne toxins may also be found on surfaces.

"TSNAs (tobacco-specific nitrosamines) are among the most broadly acting and potent carcinogens present in unburned tobacco and tobacco smoke," Berkeley chemist Hugo Destaillats, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

"The burning of tobacco releases nicotine in the form of a vapor that adsorbs strongly onto indoor surfaces, such as walls, floors, carpeting, drapes and furniture. Nicotine can persist on those materials for days, weeks and even months."

The nicotine combines with another common compound called nitrous acid to form tobacco-specific nitrosamines or TSNAs, Destaillats and colleagues found.

Unvented gas appliances are the main source of nitrous acid indoors, and vehicle engines emit it too.

The researchers did laboratory tests with cigarette smoke, and also tested a 45-year-old pickup truck driven by a heavy smoker. The TSNA compound formed quickly if nitrous acids were around -- notably in the truck compartment but also in rooms where cigarette smoke wafted.

It would be easy to ingest this new compound, they said, calling it "an unappreciated health hazard."

"Because of their frequent contact with surfaces and dust, infants and children are particularly at risk," they wrote.

"Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco smoke, has until now been considered to be non-toxic in the strictest sense of the term," Kamlesh Asotra of the University of California's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, which paid for the study, said in a statement.

"What we see in this study is that the reactions of residual nicotine with nitrous acid at surface interfaces are a potential cancer hazard, and these results may be just the tip of the iceberg."

James Pankow, who also worked on the study, said it may raise questions about the safety of electronic cigarettes, or "e-cigarettes." which produce a nicotine vapor but not smoke.

The researchers said regulators who have cracked down on second-hand smoke with smoking bans may decide to consider policies on third-hand smoke.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... health1100

[millionairemind]

Feb 10, 2010
Low IQ = higher heart risk

LONDON - INTELLIGENCE comes second only to smoking as a predictor of heart disease, scientists said on Wednesday, suggesting public health campaigns may need to be designed for people with lower IQs if they are to work.

Research by Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) found that lower intelligence quotient (IQ) scores were associated with higher rates of heart disease and death, and were more important indicators than any other risk factors except smoking.

Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women Europe, the United States and most industrialised countries. According to the World Health Organisation, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes accounted for 32 per cent of all deaths around the world in 2005.

It is well known that people with poorer education and lower incomes often face higher risks of ill health and a range of diseases. Studies have pointed to many likely reasons, including limited access to healthcare and other resources, poorer living conditions, chronic stress and higher rates of lifestyle risk factors like smoking.

The MRC study, which analysed data from 1,145 men and women aged around 55 and followed up for 20 years, rated the top five heart disease risk factors as cigarette smoking, IQ, low income, high blood pressure, and low physical activity.

The researchers, led by David Batty of the MRC and Social and Public Health Science Unit in Glasgow, Scotland, said there were 'a number of plausible mechanisms' which might explain why lower IQ scores could raise the risk of heart disease - in particular a person's approach to 'healthy behaviour.' -- REUTERS

[winston]

Counting Calories

If you're counting calories, you might need to do some extra addition when eating out.

A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reveals that caloric content posted on food labels and restaurant menus might be significantly lower than the actual number of calories you'll end up eating.

When researchers evaluated nearly 30 sit-down restaurant foods and quick-serve meals, on average the dishes contained nearly 20 percent more calories than promised.

What's worse, these dishes were considered to be "smart" choices for weight watchers.

And worse still: Seven of the restaurant meals and three of the quick-serve meals contained at least TWICE the amount of calories posted on menus and labels.

So if you're watching WHAT you eat, you might also want to watch WHERE you eat.

Source: HSI

[kennynah]

i watched this documentary recently that touched on transfats... which apparently can be very harmful to our bodies...

US FDA mandated against the use of this ingredient in their country, hence restaurants and food outlets like macnona, burger king, wendy's cannot use them in their preparation of food...

i wonder if mcnona operating outside of USA also stopped using this?

[winston]

But it does take the determination that you're going to put your thoughts upon something that does feel good.

And so, here we're going to make a very bold statement: Any disease could be healed in a matter of days, any disease, if distraction from it could occur, and a different vibration dominate -- and the healing time is about how much mix-up there is in all of that.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Ashland, OR on Saturday, July 20th, 2002 #348


Source: abraham-hicks.com

[winston]

Aluminium Poisoning

One study showed that drinking water that contains a high concentration of aluminum may increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by 250 percent! And we already know that autopsies done on people who had Alzheimer's actually show higher than normal levels of aluminum in their brains.

"These are astonishing findings, and I find them hard to just sweep under the carpet, because aluminum isn't just in your drinking water--it's in antiperspirants, baking powder, and antacids to name a few places. No one can deny that aluminum is prevalent in our environment and is permeating our bodies. And the longer you live, the more chance you have of accumulating dangerously high levels of it--upping your risk for one of the scariest diseases you could ever be faced with.

"Tips to Reduce Your Exposure to Aluminum:

* Drink filtered water. I recommend purchasing a reverse osmosis water filter for your home. Such filters do the best job of removing most contaminants from your drinking water (Otherwise, your body will filter them for you!).

* Cook with aluminum-free cookware. There are many good brands to choose from. I actually use Revere Ware--which is not very fancy but is the same kind my mother used when I was a kid.

* Don't use antiperspirants that contain aluminum. Period. There are many natural deodorants and antiperspirants.

* I like the products from Tom's of Maine and Weleda, which are widely available.

* Avoid processed foods. Aluminum is added to items like baking powder, food coloring, and self-rising flour.

* Avoid eating anything wrapped in aluminum foil, especially those little snack cheeses!

* Eat cilantro, nature's very own chelating agent. In order to help prevent the long-term build-up of heavy metals-- and to lower your chances of getting Alzheimer's--include it in your diet at least several times a month, ramping it up to daily use for two weeks at a time three to four times a year.

* For extra benefit, add some daily chlorella (a fresh- water algae and an excellent detoxifier). Take 1,200 mg in three divided doses during the day when you are also eating cilantro."


Source: HSI

[winston]

Running Barefoot? by Bob Tschannen-Moran

I'm not there myself, but there is growing research and debate regarding the biomechanics of running shoes and barefoot running. No one can argue with the fact that running shoes are a pretty recent invention in the grand sweep of human evolution.

People have been running barefoot for most of the past 2 million years. The question, then, is whether or not running shoes represent a step forward or a step back in human evolution. In other words, do running shoes do more harm than good?

Fortunately, that question can be researched. In Kenya, which produces many of the world's great marathoners, barefoot running is the norm. Research indicates their biomechanics are different and they suffer fewer injuries than their many equally-fit competitors who run in shoes. Shoes produce more of a heel strike and more of an overall impact shock to the body.

Heel striking is apparently a more efficient way to walk than to run. And many runners just can't imagine giving up their shoes. So there's no definitive, one-size-fits-all recommendation. Yet the proponents are filled with passion, watch video , and many shoe companies are now making shoes designed to simulate barefoot running.

The most extreme is Vibram Five Fingers, which is essentially a rubber glove for your foot. It protects against debris and dangers without changing the biomechanics of running barefoot. The Nike Free 5.0 is less extreme, with a little more padding and still calling for a sock, while its flexible sole seeks to emulate the freedom of barefoot running.

I've been running in the Nike Free for the past month and it is fast becoming my favorite running shoe. It's funny how less can be more. If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

Source: Life Trek Coaching